Power-operated sliding door



L. V. HOMAN.

POWER OPERATED SLIDING DOOR. APPLICATION FILED OCT. 6, 1919.

1,332,727". I Patented Mar.- 2, 1920.

Zorneya UNITED STATES PATENT onnron.

LOUIS V. HOMAN, OF SOUTH DARTMOUTH, MASSACHUSETTS.

POWER-OPERATED SLIDING DOOR.

Application filed October 6, 1919. Serial No. 328,813.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I,LoUrs V. HOMAN, a citizen of the United States,residing at South Dartmouth, in the county of Bristol and State ofMassachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Power-Operated Sliding Doors. of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a sliding door, operated by power andparticularly to the type of door operating mechanism disclosed by myPatent 1,315,308, dated September 9th, 1919, said mechanism including areversible motor, and motion-transmitting connections between the motorand a sliding door, and adapted to alternately open and close thelatter.

The invention has for its object to provide improved means foryieldingly arresting the door at each end of its path, and is embodiedin the improvements hereinafter described and claimed:

Of the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification,

Figure 1 is a side view of a portion of a building looking outwardly,and showing a door, a motor and a door check embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view of one of the dash pots, hereinafterdescribed.

The same reference characters indicate the same parts in all of thefigures.

In the drawings, 12 represents the front wall of a building orcompartment such as a garage, having a doorway 13. 14 represents a dooradapted to open and close the doorway, the door being of the slidingtype and provided with suitable hangers 15, the wheels of which areadapted to run on a track 16, the door being suspended from the track.

17 represents the casing, and 18 the shaft of a reversible motor, whichmay be of any suitable character, the motor being preferably a reversingfield electric motor of well known construction, and having acontrolling member which is the arm 20 of a reversing switch, said armprojecting through a slot 19 in the casing. The motor is fixed to thebuilding adjacent to one end of the path of the door.

Connections are provided between the switch arm 20 and the door 14,through which the motor is operable to open and close the door. As hereshown, said connections comprise a pulley 21, which may be either fixedon or geared to the shaft 18, and cable .22 wrapped around the pulley toen gage the latter without slipping, and at tached at one end to an eye23 fixed to the rear portion of the door, and at its opposite end to aneye 24: fixed to the forward por tion of the door, the cable passingaround a guide pulley 25,journaled in a fixed support near the doorway.The arrangement is such that when the motor runs in one di-- rection thedoor is opened, and when the motor runs in the opposite direction thedoor is closed. I

Fulc'rumed at 26 to a fixed support above the door way is a switch lever27, which is connected by a rod 28 with the switch arm 20, and isadapted to move said switch arm to different positions. When the switcharm is in one position, the motor shaft runs in the direction requiredto close the door, and when the switch arm is in another position, theshaft runs in the direction required to open the door. I have providedmeans operable from a plurality of locations spaced from the doorway.

When the switch arm is in an intermediate position the motor is stopped.The foregoing description is taken from the specification of my formerpatent. The switch arm may be moved by the means disclosed by the abovementioned patent, said means including manually operable pull cords 29and 30, portions of which are shown by Fig. 1, and ears or projections50 and 51. attached to the door and adapted to contact with the switcharm. For a fuller description of said means and the mode of operationthereof, reference is made to the specification and drawings of saidpatent.

In carrying out the present invention, I provide a door checking orstopping means preferably constructed as next described.

31 and 32 represent cylinders fixed to the building at opposite ends ofthe doorway 13. In each cylinder is a movable piston 33, having a member34, such as a piston rod, arranged to contact with the door when thelatter is approaching one end of its path. The outer end portions of thecylinders 32 and 33, are connected by a pipe line or conduit 35.

The cylinders and conduit contain a body of fluid a portion of which isshown at 36 in Fig. 2. Said body which is preferably a non-congealableliquid, such as oil, fills the portions of the cylinders between theirouter Specification of Letters Patent. V Patented hlar. 2, 1920.

ends and the pistons, and also fills the conduit, the portions of thecylinders between their inner ends and the pistons-being empty orsubstantially so. Each cylinder, its piston, and its contact member "34,constitute a dash-pot adapted to yieldingly arrest the door gatw oneend: ofoits movement, one, of said contact members belngarranged to be emoved by the door wheiithe' latter is approaching the. end ofitslopeningmovement, and the :other end, being i movable by the door,when the latter is approaching the end ,of its closing movement. :Aportionof the lfluidis therefore forced out of the cylinder 32 andanother portion into the cylinder 31, by the opening movementof thedoor, and a portion :of the fluid isvforced out of the cylinder 31. ndanother portion into the cylinder 32, bythe closing movement ,of thedoor. To regulate the flow of fluid through the conduit 35, I providesaid conduit with a throttle valve '38, or if desired, with two 7throttle valves, has sho wn by Fig. 1.

v I claim:

1. Aidouble acting door check, comprising two dash pots, located atopposite ends of the vpath of a sliding door, each dashp0t including'facylinder,- a piston therein and a contact member connected with thepiston and arranged to be moved by the door when the latter is--near oneend of its path, and a conduit connecting the outer end portions of thetwo cylinders, said cylinders and conduit containing a body of fluid,which is movableby the piston of either, dash-pot to transfer a portionof'the fluid to the cylinder of the other dash pot.

2. A doube acting door check,co1nprising two dash-pots, locatedatopposite ends of the path of asliding d0or, each dash pot including acylinder, a pistontherein and a contact member connected with the pistonand arranged to be moved by the door when the latter is near one end ofits path, and a LOUIS v. HOMAN.

